US OPEN

September 1, 2025

Coco Gauff

Press Conference

N. OSAKA/C. Gauff

6-3, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Obviously disappointment to the result. Given what you came in with, how did you feel today went overall as a performance? Obviously Naomi played well.

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, Naomi played well. Today was, like, disappointing, because I felt it was the best I served all tournament. A lot of aces. Yeah, there were some doubles, but I thought, like, that was a good performance from me serving.

Off the ground I think I just made way too many mistakes, way too many errors, which I feel like that's the part of my game that I felt the most confident in coming into the tournament. So it was kind of a weird match, like, feeling confident in different areas swapping.

Yeah, I mean, it's disappointing. For sure it was not the level that I wanted to bring, but it is a step in the right direction I feel, and I think emotionally how much this week was, I think today I just stepped in, and I maybe was a little bit empty. She forced me to earn every point out there today.

Q. You always pride yourself on learning from adversity. What do you hope to learn from not just today, but the whole experience during this tournament?

COCO GAUFF: I think that trying to be more positive. After the match I was really disappointed. Kind of broke down to my team. Then hearing their perspectives and everything, it definitely is a lot of positive things. I think if I kept the way I was going in Cincinnati to here, I would have been out the first round. So I think where my serve started from the start of the tournament to today was a big improvement.

I feel like now I just have to get everything to work together. But, yeah, I knew going in it was going to be a tough tournament for me. Did I feel like I had a lot of confidence after my last match? Yeah, definitely. I think that was a big confidence booster. So today feels more disappointing I think than maybe it would have felt losing in the first or second round.

Q. Can you compare this year losing in this round, also having some struggles with your consistency to where you were last year? Obviously different members of your team, different thoughts, different plans, and things like that. Sort of how it is going forward and what you focus on?

COCO GAUFF: My goal going into the tournament this year was not to lose the same way that I lost last year. I don't remember how many doubles I hit in my match against Emma, but it was definitely in the double digits, so I didn't do that today.

Yeah, I mean, it's been a tough I think post-French Open for me for sure. I know the improvements that I need to make, and I feel like I'm making the right decision by making them. I wish I had more time between this tournament and Cincinnati, but that's the cards that I was given.

I don't know. I think today when I walked on the court -- and, I don't know, I feel like I put so much pressure on myself at my age at 21, and I realize how much the girls on tour are being successful at 25, 26, at those ages. For me it just gets me excited to realize if I have four more years of just working as hard as I am right now and actually doing the right things, like where my game could be.

It has obviously improved in the last four years from four years ago to now. So I think if I can make that same jump of improvement, it's a lot to be excited for the future for.

Q. In terms of what's next. Obviously you're at the start of a project with Gavin and the rest of the team. Is the intention or the plan A to take a training block to work on that project, or do you want to continue doing it on the job at events on tour?

COCO GAUFF: I have no choice but to do a training block between now and Beijing, just the next tournament I'm signed up for. I've said this every year. After US Open for me it's just improvement mode to get ready for Australia.

I had good results last year after US Open, and I think that's just because I didn't -- I don't want to say didn't care, because those tournaments obviously deserve effort, but I don't know. It's just your mindset is different once the slams are over.

Yeah, whatever happens for the rest of the year, I just want it to be improvement. I don't care results-wise. Yeah, last year if you told me I would go win in Beijing and WTA Finals, I would have been, like, whatever, because I didn't really care going into it.

So yeah, I'm going to probably have that same mindset. If I do well, I do well, like I did last year, and if not, if not. But I think for me the main improvements I get are from how I do in the slams.

Q. You mentioned obviously since Roland Garros it has been pretty tough. I just wondered kind of why you thought it was, whether that was like the end of a cycle or, yeah, just kind of to talk through that.

COCO GAUFF: I mean, obviously I won Roland Garros. Yeah, great result and things like that, but I knew where I was in my game, and I knew that I needed to do make an improvement.

For me, we tried something after Roland Garros, and it didn't really work. I don't think I fully believed in that plan, and the opportunity became to work with Gavin on this. Like, I felt like JC and I have been doing incredible work. That's why -- and also Matt. That's why I won Roland Garros, but obviously, the serve was not where it needed to be in that tournament.

So yeah, I think for me I just knew I needed to make an improvement, and I was trying things with it. I feel like this is actually the right step forward. In Cincinnati I don't think I had enough time to make that adjustment.

Q. If you can compare today's Naomi to previous matchup, did you find any differences in, like, how she plays?

COCO GAUFF: Last time we played was in Beijing last year, and she got injured. I don't even remember the time before that. I don't want to use that as an example, because we didn't finish the match. I don't even remember the time before that.

I mean, she seems relaxed out there. Today she was definitely on paper the underdog. But yeah, maybe relaxed. I don't know. It's hard for me to say.

But yeah, she's playing great tennis. Today I thought she played well. She forced me to play how I did today. Yeah, I think she's improved a lot since coming back.

Regardless in whatever form she's in, she's always a tough player, and I don't think anyone takes her for granted regardless of where her, quote, unquote, "form" is, especially on hard courts.

Q. Just making sure I understand, I wanted to go back to one of your earlier answers. Obviously you served really well.

COCO GAUFF: Yeah.

Q. Is it fair to say all of the, what have you, the emotional ups and downs from having to remake the serve or tweak the serve and all the stuff that you've gone through the past week and a half, did that kind of play an aggregate effect today that left you emotionally kind of empty in the tank?

COCO GAUFF: Honestly, when I immediately got off on court, I didn't feel that way because I'm such a competitor, and I don't want to use, like, anything as a scapegoat or something like that. But after talking to my team -- and I still, like, whatever, maybe I don't believe it fully, but they mentioned that probably could have been the performance for today, because physically I felt fine.

Honestly, today I felt good on court. I woke up today thinking, oh, this is going to be a good day for me where I'm going to play well, and then out there I just don't know what happened.

Yeah, after talking to them, they all agree that that could have played a role, but again, I just feel like mentally where I am, I feel like I'm so strong. Maybe I'll look back at this and agree with them, but I just am more disappointed in how I played. So I don't know the answer to that immediately after, but maybe when I have some time to think about it I can say.

Q. On return especially, which is usually one of your strengths, you had a tough time getting into her service games. I think it was midway through the second set that you won a point on her first serve. She was perfect on that for a while. How much was that just her being one of the best servers and having a great day at the office? No matter how much you said like you were struggling on return, which hasn't been most of the talk about this sort of stage of your improvements, but I felt like statistically today was not your best day.

COCO GAUFF: No, I definitely think it was both. Obviously she was serving well on the first serve, but I felt like today I was making way too many errors on the serve, especially second serve.

I think on that first set I don't think her first serve percentage was even that high, and I wasn't really getting into the rallies at all, which is, like you said, a strong suit in my game.

I think for me I felt so discombobulated on the court, because it's, like, I'm serving well, but not returning well. The last two years everybody can agree that's like a weird thought.

Yeah, I am excited because I know that part of my game I feel like off the ground I wasn't just doing well at all. Today I'm excited because I'm, like, okay, if I can serve well and also return well enough, then it's going to be pretty good for me.

Yeah, I think there's a lot of positives to take from this tournament, and I'm trying to be positive in front of you guys. I promise you that, you know, I don't feel that way right now, but I am not going to let this crush me.

I look forward to the future and making more improvements. Yeah, hopefully next year I can grow a lot as a player and as a person.